Hong Kong court dismisses appeal of 12 activists over landmark subversion case

South China Morning Post · Feb 23, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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A Hong Kong court has dismissed all appeals by 12 opposition activists to overturn their convictions or reduce their sentences in the city’s largest national security case, upholding that an unofficial 2020 primary election was subversive and that the seven-year starting point for jail terms was not “manifestly excessive”.The Court of Appeal on Monday also upheld the acquittal of barrister Lawrence Lau Wai-chung, one of the 47 activists prosecuted in the landmark case of conspiracy to subvert state power through their involvement in the unofficial primary.Hours after the verdict, the Hong Kong government said the Department of Justice would carefully study the judgment and consider whether to appeal Lau’s acquittal.A government spokesman also said the court’s dismissal of the appeals against conviction and sentence “clearly demonstrated that anyone who attempts to subvert state power or endanger national security will ultimately face punishment in accordance with the law”.A lower court ruled in 2024 that the primary election scheme constituted a “grand strategy of subversion” in breach of the Beijing-imposed national security law, as the defendants intended to create a “constitutional crisis” by indiscriminately blocking the government’s budgets.Among the 45 activists whose sentences ranged from four years and two months to 10 years, 12 sought to overturn their convictions or have their sentences reduced.